


I was enchanted to meet you

by astrodrag



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: F/F, Lesbian AU, Meet-Cute, Tea shop AU, just some casual fluff, kind of college au, some background Kameron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-10-02 17:49:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20333767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrodrag/pseuds/astrodrag
Summary: Vanessa frequents the same bubble tea shop to study while in college. Brooke is the cute new employee who catches Vanessa's eye.





	I was enchanted to meet you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [writworm42](https://archiveofourown.org/users/writworm42/gifts).

> Requested by the lovely Writ over on tumblr. I hope you all enjoy it!  


Vanessa found out years ago that she was not the kind of person who could study in silence. She needed people around here, background noise to help her feel comfortable enough to focus on her studies. During her first year of college, she tried to make herself study in the library, but quickly realized that it was never going to work. It was almost always dead silent, creating an environment too intense for Vanessa’s liking. She gave up on going to the library after the first month of classes.

Luckily, Vanessa soon discovered her ideal study spot in the form of a small bubble tea shop just across the street from her university’s campus. The shop was comfortable and welcoming, with plants interspersed throughout the seating area and soft fairy lights hanging in the back corner where Vanessa often sat. The walls were painted in soft earthy tones, and there were almost always customers present, chatting away with the incredibly friendly staff. 

During her years in college, Vanessa became an almost daily visitor at the shop. The employees knew her usual order by heart, would ask for updates on her coursework and encourage her on rough days. In a way, the shop almost felt like a home away from home for Vanessa.

Now it was Vanessa’s final year of undergrad, which meant she was busting her ass working on things like grad school applications and her capstone project, on top of her typical course work. She was spending more time than she ever had in the tea shop, coming in on the days when she didn’t have lectures just so she could try to work ahead on assignments. At that point, her routine was set in stone, and nothing could make her want to change it.

Except maybe the cute new employee at the tea shop.

It was just after lunch time on a Saturday when Vanessa first noticed the new employee. She was standing in line, backpack thrown lazily over one shoulder as she typed out a text to one of her friends. The line seemed to be moving infinitely slower than usual. After Vanessa hit  _ send  _ on her text, she stood up on her tip-toes in an attempt to see over the shoulder of the man in front of her. She let out a huff, unable to see anything other than the man’s shoulder, and went back texting until she reached the front of the line.

A few minutes later, Vanessa could finally see why the line seemed to be moving so slowly. Standing on the other side of the counter was a tall blonde girl, black uniform apron a total mess, complete with a crooked name tag that read  _ Brooke  _ in delicately written cursive. Immediately, Vanessa could sense the nervous energy radiating off the blonde, a stark contrast to the overall calm atmosphere of the shop. Vanessa knew the girl was new, having never seen her at the shop before, and assumed it must have been her first day on the job.

“Hey, uh hi, welcome to Tea Bar,” Brooke greeted her, flashing a nervous, forced smile. Vanessa noticed the blonde tapping a black marker against the countertop repeatedly as her eyes momentarily darting towards the stacks of upside-down cups sitting beside the register, almost as if she was confirming that they hadn’t disappeared into thin air. “What can I get for you?”

Vanessa rattled off her usual order, trying to suppress a laugh at the way Brooke’s face scrunched up in confusion as she spoke. Brooke looked around, still tapping her marker, before leaning forwards.

“I’ll be honest with you, I have no fucking clue how to make that yet,” she admitted, her voice hushed. Vanessa let out a soft laugh then, leaning forward so her arms were resting on the counter.

“Just ring it up, I’ll walk you through it,” Vanessa promised with a grin, much to the evident confusion of Brooke. Vanessa saw Brooke open her mouth to protest, but she quickly cut the girl off, “I’ve been coming here for three years, seen it made enough times to know how it’s done.”

Brooke shut her mouth and paused, giving Vanessa a skeptical look before she pushed a couple buttons on the register and asked Vanessa to swipe her card. She handed Vanessa her receipt and grabbed a plastic cup, using her marker to scrawl on the side what drink she was meant to make. 

Vanessa did exactly as promised, talking Brooke through each step of making the specific type of bubble tea she always ordered. The more she spoke, the more she could see Brooke quickly calming down, her eyebrows no longer furrowed together in intense concentration. Brooke was in her zone, silently following Vanessa’s directions with impressive accuracy given how little experience she probably had. It only took a couple minutes to make Vanessa’s tea, but by the time Brooke was handing over the cup, Vanessa could see a genuine smile on the blonde’s face.

And maybe, _ just maybe _ it melted her heart a little bit.

Rather than immediately going to claim her spot in the corner, Vanessa stayed leaning against the counter. Studying could wait for a little bit, she decided.

“So, your boss just leave you up here to figure things out on your own?” Vanessa asked, raising a curious eyebrow at the blonde. Brooke let out a laugh, shaking her head as she placed her hands in the front pocket of her apron.

“No, he had a family emergency and had to leave. Said he trusted me to keep the place from burning down until Kameron comes in at 1.” Brooke’s response was much more confident than when she’d first started talking to Vanessa, the words rolling off her tongue with an ease Vanessa didn’t think was possible for the overly-nervous blonde she had seen just minutes prior. The way Brooke straightened herself up, standing just a little bit taller, was not only endearing, but also kind of hot if Vanessa was being honest. Confident women had always been her weakness.

“Well shit, I ain’t ever seen him trust a newbie to run the whole place without him around. He must really like you,” Vanessa remarked, feeling her heart nearly skip a beat as Brooke laughed and leaned forward once more.

“We’ll see how long that lasts. I doubt he’d like me much if he saw me talking to a cute customer instead of working.” Vanessa could feel the heat rising on her cheeks, but chose to ignore it. She knew then that there was no way in hell she was getting any studying done that day, and she chose to ignore that too.

Vanessa stood and chatted with Brooke for what felt like an eternity before another customer walked in, though it was probably closer to fifteen minutes. She took a seat near the register while Brooke help the customer, her stomach doing a flip when Brooke shot her a bright grin after the customer ordered the same drink Vanessa just taught her to make. Once the customer got their drink and left, Vanessa watched Brooke walk out from behind the counter and over to her table before sitting across from her.

“Now, where were we?” Brooke chuckled, her hands folded in front of her on the table. The pair playfully talked for another thirty minutes, Vanessa silently thanking the universe for not sending anymore customers into the shop to interrupt them. After only a few minutes, the conversation took a much more flirtatious turn, with Brooke fleetingly touching Vanessa’s arm as she let out laughs or flashing her a brief smirk after a particularly forward comment. Vanessa kept up with ease, throwing in a suggestive joke here and there that earned her a couple laughs from Brooke as the blonde leaned back in her chair.

Eventually Kameron walked in, signalling the end of Brooke’s shift for the day. The blonde stood up, waving at her coworker before excusing herself from the table Vanessa was still sitting at. Vanessa watched as she disappeared into the back of the shop, undoubtedly hanging up her apron so she could go home.

Vanessa let a few minutes pass, sighing softly before she grabbed her now-empty cup and stood up herself. She debated moving to her corner to try and study a bit, but decided against it, knowing her thoughts would only drift to the cute blonde employee she had been talking to. Throwing her wallet back into her purse after, Vanessa began packing up her stuff to leave, but was surprised to feel a hand rest on her shoulder. 

“Miss, you forgot your receipt,” Brooke said, placing a piece of paper into Vanessa’s hands. Vanessa started to object, was going to insist that Brooke was mistaken, but didn’t have a chance before the blonde was walking out the front door of the shop. Instead, Vanessa let out a sigh and glanced down at the paper. She could feel the butterflies start to thrash around in her stomach when she saw the note Brooke had scribbled onto the paper.

_ Don’t work again until Thursday. Maybe I can see you before then? Text me xoxo _

Vanessa knew immediately she’d never be able to successfully study in the tea shop again. At least, not with Brooke around.


End file.
